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5 Adaptation from a local perspective
5.1 Adaptation strategies and capacities at a local level
5.2 Local perspectives on additionality and funding for adaptation
5.3 Local perspectives on climate proofing of policies and investments

13
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19

6 Conclusions and recommendations
6.1 Local experiences as the key to adaptation at local and national levels
6.2 Vulnerability reduction as the entry point to adaptation
6.3 Building on local adaptation strategies
6.4 Integrating climate change in policy frameworks
6.5 Funding mechanisms for adaptation

22
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References

25

Annex: Short summary of the case studies

26

This briefing paper is based on eight studies
made by local organisations working on
adaptation to climate change in different
countries of Africa, Asia and South America,
and a background paper describing the gender
aspects of adaptation.
The cases both describe local adaptation
strategies and provide assessment of the
policy response and institutional challenges
within countries in which they are located. Brief
summaries of the studies and groups involved can
be found in ANNEX 1. Fuller descriptions can be
found at www.bothends.org.
The paper shows that the experiences of local
communities and civil society organisations in
coping with and adapting to climatic changes
provide an important source of knowledge for
developing adaptation policies, nationally and
internationally. On the basis of these observations
and analyses, this report provides policy
recommendations to national and international
policy makers, experts and donor agencies.
2

Executive Summary
Recognition of the urgency of tackling global warming has greatly increased
in recent years â&#x20AC;&#x201C; yet most of the debate remains focused around mitigation and
ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In many parts of the world the effects of climate change are already being felt, especially by the most vulnerable
communities, who are having to adjust their agriculture and water management
practices to cope with these changes. This report draws on the experiences of
such communities in the developing world and in doing so provides insights into
what adaptation to global climate change entails, both at the local level and in
terms of institutional and policy change. It also highlights the inherent inequities of the poorest communities having to adapt to problems largely created by
developed countries and the lack of an effective framework for redressing this
balance.
The paper reviews the adaptation strategies of vulnerable communities in
eight different countries and the issues which this raises. Vulnerability to climate
change is an additional problem faced by poor communities and has differential
impacts on different sections of these communities. For example, climate change
will place a greater burden on women, who traditionally are responsible for
providing household food, fuel, water and health care needs.
There is an urgent need for national and international economic and other
sectoral policies and investment plans to factor in climate change and its
impacts: For example, the World Bank estimates that up to a quarter of its
portfolio is sensitive to climate change. Such programmes urgently need
climate proofing. As they stand at the moment economic, investment policies
and development plans are often cause of maladaptation to climate change. This
situation needs to change to allow local communities to develop autonomous
adaptation. At the same time vulnerable communities need support in bridging
the information and funding gaps that impede their present capacities to adapt
to climate change and to share successful strategies with others in similar
situations. Above all, new mechanisms are needed to channel funding effectively
to people that need it most.

3

NOTES

1

2

Introduction

In 2006, Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ and the report led by economist
Nicholas Stern significantly increased global awareness about the serious impacts
of climate change.
In February 2007, the Fourth Assessment Report of the International Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC), the global
think tank on climate change, showed
that climate change is occurring at an
alarming rate. The Panel concluded
that it is very likely that these changes
are caused by human activity1. The
Stern Review states that continuing
with business as usual carries risks of
major disruptions to economic and social activity, on a scale similar to those
associated with the great wars2.

part of the bill. This is an affront to
social equity and justice.

Politicians, researchers, and activists
alike now recognise climate change
as the biggest challenge humanity has
ever faced. Calls for action are multiplying. During the G8 summit in Germany in June 2007 mitigating climate
change was top of the agenda. Airline
tycoon Richard Branson announced a
$25 million prize for the first person or
group to find a way to remove billions
of tonnes of greenhouse gases from
the atmosphere.

The international community now
almost universally recognises the urgency of mitigating against climate
change. Yet it is rather slower to
recognise the need for adaptation,
which has attracted far less attention
and runs the risk of being marginalised
as a result. There are many technical
questions and institutional challenges
that need to be properly addressed:
What is the best way to adapt? Which
groups and sectors are most vulnerable? How can regional or national
climatic models be translated and
used on the ground for adaptation
purposes? What policies should be
adopted to support adaptation? How
much does adaptation cost? And who
is going to pay for all this?

While the world is waking up to the
urgency of cutting greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions, climate change is
already happening. Increased flooding, unexpected droughts and heat
waves, changing rainfall patterns, and
severe cyclones are affecting the lives
of millions of people, especially in the
poorest countries of the world. Since
the poor are most vulnerable they will
be hardest hit. Thus climate change
threatens to further increase the gap
between the rich and the poor. Those
who have contributed least to the
problem are likely to pay the largest

4

Even if humanity were to cut GHG
emissions to zero today, increasing
impacts from past emissions would
still be felt for the coming twenty
years. There is therefore an urgent
need to start supporting processes of
adaptation: to enable people to cope
with the impacts of climate change
and to adapt to those changes that
can no longer be avoided.

Many people, all around the world,
are already facing the impacts of climate change; climate-related disasters
and increasing climate variability are
forcing people to adapt. Farmers in
Bangladesh are growing salt-resistant
crops to deal with the growing shortage of freshwater. Highland peoples

in the Andes are planting trees to
capture the water released by melting
glaciers. Women in Kenya are constructing sand dams to store water in
times of drought. The wide variety of
adaptation strategies employed on a
local level provides promising answers
to the many questions that the international community needs to start considering.
This report analyses the current
debate on adaptation to climate
change from the perspective of local
organisations working in the fields of
sustainable development and poverty
reduction. It draws on eight case
examples on adaptation and a background paper on gender and adaptation, in order to provide a series of
recommendations to policy makers in
developed and developing countries,
and to the climate experts engaged in
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
negotiations.

1IPCC, 2007

Adaptation: the neglected
aspect of climate change
discussions

2Stern Review, summary of conclusions

2.1
What is adaptation?
During the past century the global
climate warmed by about 0.7°C because of human activities, and is projected to rise by another 1.4 - 5.8°C in
the next 100 years. The impacts of climate change are felt not only through
gradual changes in temperature and
sea level rises but also, and more
so, through increased climate variability and extremes, including more

intense floods, droughts, and storms.
Increased climatic variability has already had an impact on the economic
performance of developing countries.
Sectors especially vulnerable to the
impacts of climate change include
human health, agriculture, forestry,
water supply and sanitation, energy,
tourism and the environment. These in
turn have (and will continue to have)
impacts on care work, poverty and incomes.

Water management and the threats of climate change in Central America
Information about climate change in Central America is scarce. However, the
available data and analyses indicate that climate change is causing more erratic
rainfall and a reduction of total rainfall, as well as a rise in mean temperatures in
the Pacific sub-region. This, in turn, will create increased stress on the region's
water systems. The ACODAPCHI association has been supporting the rural
population of the Guatemalan Chiquimula department in the sensible use of
rivers and forests. Small scale irrigation systems have been developed and a
local management plan for the Gigante forest is being negotiated. The water
stress due to climate change is now threatening the relationships between
different water users and the department is on the verge of a new outbreak of
social conflicts over water rights.

Millions of poor people around the
world are at high-risk from the impacts
of climate change, particularly those
who depend on natural resources for
their livelihoods. It is these people
who are most affected by climate
change.
The challenge of adaptation is much
less well understood than that of mitigation. Reliable estimates on the exact

climatic changes to be expected, their
impacts and costs are still scarce as
are relevant experiences of large scale
adaptation. While people all over the
world have always adapted to changing conditions in the natural climate
this natural climatic variability is being
accelerated by human-induced climate
change. This means that the changes
will take place faster, and people will
have less time to adapt. Thus,

5

NOTES

adaptation to human induced climate
change can not rely solely on existing
knowledge and experiences, but will
need additional research and will demand higher investments.
In the words of the IPCC adaptation means: “Adjustments in natural
and human systems in response to
actual or expected climatic stimuli or
their effects, which moderates harm
or exploits beneficial opportunities”3.
Adaptation measures are ways to reduce the risks and impacts of climate
change. Examples include building
dams to control flooding, installing early warning systems to predict
cyclones or heat waves and using
drought-resistant crops to endure
droughts.
A distinction can be made between
coping (reactive adaptation) and
adapting (proactive adaptation). The
first is about acting in response to
observed climatic changes and variability and alleviating the impacts,
the latter entails anticipating future
climate change by reducing the risks
or taking advantage of the changes.
Actions that exacerbate risks to climate change, such as settlement development in flood-prone areas, and
policies that hamper actions toward
planned adaptation, are referred to as
maladaptations.

6

Maladaptation
In the Peruvian Andes, climate change is causing the disappearance of one of
the main water sources, the high-mountain glaciers. The ensuing changes in the
water regime are threatening people’s livelihoods in many ways and increasing
competition for water. As in many other regions, poor people living in the rural
upper watersheds, stand to lose most. In the Ocoña basin, water scarcity may
be compounded as a result of mining activities promoted by the Peruvian government. This additional pressure on the basin’s land and water resources will
increase people’s vulnerability and diminish their options for adaptation.

Communities in developing countries have spontaneously and autonomously developed strategies to cope
with extreme climatic variability.
Others have started to consciously
design and implement adaptation
strategies. However, effectively anticipating and adapting to future climate
change requires relevant and tailored
information on likely future changes at
the local level. In general, such information is not available, accessible to
those who need it or lacks sufficient
accuracy.
Until now, very few efforts have been
made to support communities’ autonomous adaptations to changing climatic patterns and the weather extremes
that they are giving rise to. There is
a clear need for planned adaptation
policies, which strengthen the capacities of communities and local organisations, and link local adaptation needs
to regional, sectoral and national policy frameworks and decision-making
processes. Only by making these more
“climate proof” will effective and
sustainable adaptation be possible.

3IPCC, 2001

2.2
Inequitable impacts of
climate change
The challenge of adaptation is related to the challenges of equity and
responsibility: those most vulnerable
to climate change are the ones least
responsible for it. Thus, those who are
contributing most to GHG emissions
have an inherent responsibility to support the urgent adaptation needs in
developing countries.
A society’s vulnerability to climate
variability and climate change reflects
its degree of exposure and its capacity
to adapt. The poorest people in developing countries are the most at risk.
Vulnerability is influenced by many
factors, including population and income levels. While vulnerability varies
from region to region, it is generally
highest in developing countries. Their
economies often depend on climate
sensitive activities such as agriculture,
fishing and tourism. In addition, they
often lack the institutional, economic
and financial capacity to cope with the
impacts and invest in risk reduction.
To give an example, in high-income
countries, insurance covered 40% of
weather-related disaster losses from
1980 to 2003 but only 4% in low-income countries4. Recent estimates
by Wageningen University indicate
that the Netherlands needs to invest
about E 62 billion by 2020 to adapt
to climate change5. The World Bank
estimates that costs of adaptation in
developing countries will amount to 10
to 40 billion US dollars per year6.
Not all groups in developing countries are equally affected. The poorest
in both rural and urban areas are most
vulnerable. Globally, over two-third
of the poorest people are female.
Climate change will have different impacts on men and women. In extreme
events - after sudden climatic events

4PEW, 2006

or long-term disastrous developments
- it is often the men who migrate to
urban areas in search of work, leaving
the women and children behind with a
diminished ability to cope. In addition,
women’s livelihoods are often more
dependent on the natural environment. They traditionally are responsible for providing food, drinking water,
sanitation, health and general care
for the family. The impacts of climate
change on the availability of natural
resources and agricultural productivity
is therefore likely to place additional
burdens on women and increase their
workload.

5Het Financieele Dagblad,
April 6th 2007

6World Bank, Clean Energy and
Development, 2006

7

NOTES

3

The international
framework for adaptation

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was
agreed upon in 1992. It recognised the serious threat of global warming and
focused predominantly on the urgent need for mitigation, i.e. activities to reduce
7.
the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere
The UNFCCC recognises as a principle that industrialised countries and,
to a lesser extent, those with economies in transition (together referred to
as ‘Annex 1 countries’) are historically
responsible for most GHG emissions
and hold most of the responsibility for
climate change. It also recognised that
these countries should take the first
steps to combat this threat through
reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Despite these recognitions, the
UNFCCC did not include specific reduction targets for Annex 1 countries,
which were only later addressed in the
Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC.
The Kyoto Protocol (KP) was adopted in 1997 to implement the obligations established under the UNFCCC.
The Protocol focuses mainly on mitigation efforts, and its primary goal is to
establish binding reduction commitments, or targets, particularly for Annex 1 countries. These countries committed themselves to reducing their
overall emissions of six greenhouse
gases to at least 5% below 1990 levels,
between 2008 and 2012. These mitigation efforts should be enshrined in
national policies and legislation. Under
Article 4, developing countries (nonAnnex 1 countries) are obliged to prepare a list of anthropogenic emissions
and establish mitigation programmes
to reduce these.

8

Adaptation has been part of the
UNFCCC from the very beginning.
The Framework Convention defines a
three-staged approach:
• Step 1: Assess impacts and
vulnerabilities.
• Step 2: Develop measures to
prepare for adaptation, including
capacity building.
• Step 3: Implement adaptation
measures.
Article 10b of the Kyoto Protocol calls
on all countries to create national
programmes to facilitate adequate
adaptation to climate change, later
termed National Adaptation Plans
of Action (NAPAs). These plans
should address the energy, transport,
industry, agriculture, forestry, waste
management and spatial planning
activities required to adapt to climate
change.
The Convention calls for developed
countries to commit themselves to
supporting particularly vulnerable
countries in meeting the costs of adaptation. However, adaptation still takes
a distant second place in the UNFCCC
negotiations and policy-making processes and funding for adaptation has
been very limited.
The UNFCCC has established funding channels to support developing
countries reduce their risks to climatic
changes. The Global Environment
Facility (GEF) administers the Least
Developed Countries Fund and the

Special Climate Change Fund, and
has established a Strategic Priority
on Climate Change within its regular Trust Fund. Countries such as the
Netherlands and the UK have provided
bilateral development assistance to
adaptation efforts. These financial
resources have allowed developing
countries to assess their vulnerability,
examine adaptation needs and options
and prepare NAPAs. In relation to the
scale of the problem, however, only
very limited amounts of funding have
been made available for implementing
in-situ adaptation measures.
In 2001 the 7th Conference of the
Parties (COP) decided to supplement
voluntary donor country contributions
with a levy of 2% on proceeds from
emission credits generated through
the Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM)8 and to channel these to the
Protocol’s Adaptation Fund. However,
the governance of this fund is still
being discussed and no funds have
yet been channelled to it. In addition, there is considerable uncertainty
regarding the future flows from the
CDM.
In total, the international financial
flows for adaptation amount to a few
hundred million dollars a year,9 a sum
that is grossly insufficient to meet the
real costs of adaptation.
In Nairobi, during COP 12, parties
agreed on a five-year programme of
activities on the scientific, technical
and socioeconomic aspects of vulnerability and adaptation, the “Nairobi
Work Programme on Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate
Change”, and discussed the management of the Adaptation Fund. A decision on the way forward for adaptation
is expected at COP 13 in Bali, Indonesia in December 2007.

4

7The GHG included in Annex A of the

The adaptation debate:
main issues

8The Clean Development Mechanism

4.1

4.2

Adaptation under the Kyoto
Protocol10

Knowledge base

There is some discussion about the
viability of extending future adaptation
efforts within the Framework Convention, although experts, civil society
organisations and policy makers have
different opinions about this. Some
call for concrete adaptation measures
within the current Framework, others
for a new Adaptation Protocol. Substantial new commitments to mitigation after 2012 may only be politically
feasible if accompanied by stronger
support for adaptation11.

Knowledge about effective adaptation strategies and supporting policies
is still limited. Adaptation tends to
be location-specific, which makes it
difficult to draw general lessons. For
example, building higher dykes may
work in the Netherlands, but this strategy is unlikely to be feasible in Bangladesh.

However, fitting adaptation into the
existing UNFCCC processes may constrain what can be achieved in practice. The UNFCCC was specifically created to address climate change, and
has not been able to engage many of
the actors whose participation in adaptation is essential. The fact that climate
change has traditionally been considered as an environmental issue may
hinder the comprehensive effort that is
needed to mainstream adaptation.
Despite the importance of the outcomes of the Convention negotiations
about adaptation, efforts also need to
be made outside the international climate regime to meet the urgent need
for developing, implementing and
funding adaptation strategies. To be
effective, these processes need to be
linked to national and sectoral planning and factored into development
investments.

(CDM) is an arrangement under the
Kyoto Protocol allowing industrialised
countries with a greenhouse gas
reduction commitment to invest
in emission reducing projects in
developing countries as an alternative
to, what is generally considered as,
more costly emission reductions in
their own countries.

Sustainable adaptation needs to focus on building the adaptive capacity
of communities, starting with providing support to them now in coping
with variability. This is a long-term
process and requires long-term institutional support. This support should
focus on sharing and strengthening
existing knowledge about climate
variability, its impacts, and local adaptation strategies. In addition, knowledge-sharing links need to be established between local adaptation needs
and actions and policy and investment
processes on national and international levels.
At the international level, there
has been limited communication and
coordination between experts. The
potential for communities of experts in
climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction and development sharing their
knowledge has only recently been
recognised. The main challenges in effective coordination and cooperation
include differences in conceptual and

9

NOTES

technical approaches, and different
levels of intervention. New skills and
approaches are often required to enhance trans-disciplinary research and
effective sharing of knowledge between scientists, development agents
and affected communities.

4.3
‘Climate proofing’ policies
and investments
While adaptation measures need
to be implemented at the local level,
such efforts need to be supported by
appropriate national policies and strategies. Much needs to be done to
realise sustainable adaptation measures at local and national levels:
relevant information needs to be made
available to the right people, the
capacities of policy makers and community leaders need to be strengthened, financial resources must be committed, and appropriate technologies
developed. First and foremost, effective adaptation requires political will.
Climate change poses challenges to
social and economic activities. If adaptation is to be sustainable and cost-effective, it needs to become an integral
part of relevant national, sectoral and
regional policy processes, including
economic planning and investment
decisions. This implies a significant
change from current practice, in which
climate change is still treated as an
environmental issue, dealt with within
national Ministries of Environment.
Mainstreaming adaptation to climate
change in policies is also essential in
development support and investments
by bilateral and multilateral donors,
private actors and NGOs. Climate
change will have a large adverse impact on sustainable poverty reduction,

10

and pose a threat to achieving many of
the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For example,
investments in infrastructure may be
negatively affected by extreme weather events, and new irrigation systems
may underperform due to a decrease
in rainfall. Small-scale income generating activities, in which women play the
leading roles, are often the first to be
affected by climate change.
Simultaneously, development efforts
can have an impact on the adaptive
capacity of a country or community.
They can give rise to maladaptation,
for example by increasing the vulnerability of people by promoting the
settlement of flood-prone areas, or by
causing ecosystem degradation when
building large dams. At the same time,
experience has shown that efforts to
reduce poverty through integrated
development programmes can reduce vulnerability to climate change.
Sometimes only minor adjustments are
needed to ensure that such activities
contribute to adaptive capacity.

In other words, it is important to
ensure that aid flows are directed at
achieving sustainable development
including an increase of the adaptive
capacity to deal with current and
future climate change.
One method for integrating adaptation in development cooperation is
to carry out a climate risk assessment
of current and proposed projects and
programmes, in order to evaluate the
threats and opportunities arising from
climate change and climate variability,
and identify how to integrate these
into project and policy design. The
Dutch Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS) has been
experimenting with quick scans assessing the vulnerability of the project
portfolios of Dutch Embassies in three
countries12. The scans showed that
extra attention needed to be paid to
several programmes in the water and
agriculture sectors in each of the countries, and recommended a number of
short and medium term activities that
would achieve this.

Bolivia: the effects of climate change on production chains
There is already compelling evidence of climate change in Bolivia, a country with
diverse landscapes and an already vulnerable population. Changes in
precipitation patterns and glacier retreat are affecting the hydrological cycle.
Rising temperatures are increasing the incidence of forest fires, affecting the
growing season and the sensitivity of crops to pests. Climate change is having an
adverse effect on the government’s programme to promote crops as quinoa,
grape and wood for the export market.

The World Bank estimates that about
a quarter of its portfolio is subject to a
significant degree of climate risk. The
study also states that as much as 40%
of overseas development assistance
(ODA) and international loans are
climate-sensitive13. The World Bank is
currently developing a publicly available screening tool for project developers to assess whether their investments are at risk.
In most countries, progress in mainstreaming climate adaptation has been
limited. Many countries have engaged
in NAPA processes and carried out
climate change projections and impact
assessments, but few have started
consultation processes to look at concrete adaptation options or identify
policy responses14. In general awareness is still low. The main difficulties
include institutional fragmentation and
the lack of political will, capacity and
resources.
It should be noted that the process
of mainstreaming adaptation carries
the risk of adaptation being submerged among other competing demands and priorities, and ultimately
not getting the specific attention it
needs. A dual path, of both mainstreaming adaptation and addressing
it in specific programmes, could help
reduce this risk. Especially when it
comes to funding, it is important to
ensure that additional funds are made
available outside of the commitments
to development funding.

4.4

12NCAP, 2007

13World Bank, Managing Climate
Risk, 2006

Funding for adaptation
The Stern Review assesses the cost
of mitigation against climate change
and compares these with the costs of
the impacts under a business as usual
scenario. While the report recognises
the need for adaptation, it does not
include the cost of such measures in its
calculations, nor does it provide an estimate of the total costs of adaptation.
Several other studies have suggested that without adaptation, the
costs of the impacts of climate change
in exposed developing countries could
range from several to tens of percentage points of gross domestic product
(GDP). Taking only new climate proofing investments into account, the
World Bank estimates the cost of adaptation in developing countries to be
between 10 and 40 billion US dollars a
year15.
Currently the total international
flows of finance for adaptation amount
to a few hundred million dollars. Thus,
there is a clear shortage of funding for
adaptation efforts under the existing
Convention. Pledges from donor countries and the 2% levy on CDM credits
(see section 3) will not suffice. The
funds provided by GEF for adapting to
climate change are mainly large sums
and thus are not accessible to communities or groups that only have the
capacity to use and manage smaller
sums of money. One positive development in funding, that goes some
way to addressing this shortcoming,
is GEF’s Strategic Priority for Adaptation which has earmarked $50 million
for testing and piloting adaptation16
programmes, 10% of which will go towards the Small Grants Programme on
Community-Based Adaptation. While
this represents some progress in
bridging the funding deficit it is by no
means adequate to address the scale

14Tear fund, 2006

15World Bank, Clean Energy and
Development, 2006

16See also for the GEF Small Grant
Program: http://sgp.undp.org/

11

of the problem, nor is it sufficiently
targeted at small community groups,
who are likely to be the most effective
in addressing these issues.
Other resources for adaptation will
come from wise investments in ODA
and possibly the development of insurances to help vulnerable countries and
communities to cope with and recover
from the impacts of climate change.
There is currently some discussion
about micro-insurance, that aims to
protect poor people from such losses.
While locally appropriate insurance
mechanisms may be useful, insurance
at higher levels may be counterproductive and act as a disincentive for
climate proofing policies and investments, eventually leading to maladaptation.
Mainstreaming adaptation considerations within development funding
programmes support is important, but
it is not enough. Financing adaptation
to climate change must not be realised
at the expense of existing flows earmarked for poverty alleviation. Such
funding should be in addition to the
0.7% for ODA, to which major donors
are committed.
New funding mechanisms are needed to cover the adaptation costs of
those countries that contribute little to
climate change, but lack the resources
to cope with and adapt to its impacts.
The Polluter Pays Principle has to be
respected. Part of this approach could
involve a higher levy on the emissions
market and on international flights, or
differentiated funding commitments of
UNFCCC Parties. But new additional
mechanisms also need to be put in
place as the existing mechanisms are
insufficient. Somehow, the heaviest
polluters should be taxed to pay for
the adaptation bill that they are responsible for.

12

4.5
Additionality
Even though general estimates
about the costs of adaptation have
been made, it is still very difficult to
establish the exact costs of adaptation,
especially at the project or programme
level, partly because of the problem of
additionality.
The Convention refers to adaptation solely in the context of climate
change, implying that support under
the Convention can only be directed
to activities addressing the human-induced impacts of climate change. It is
however difficult, if not impossible, to
distinguish between human-induced
climate change and climate variability.
It is highly problematic to assess which
drought is ‘normal’, and which can be
attributed to human-induced climate
change, or how much higher a dam
should be built to protect people from
flooding due to natural climate variability as well as to the unexpected
floods due to climate change. This
raises difficulties in quantifying the
extra costs of integrating adaptation
considerations in programme development and raises the question of how
to distinguish between integrated
natural resource management and
adaptation strategies.
It is crucial to address this knowledge gap on additional costs at the
global as well as the programme and
project levels in order to achieve
progress in the negotiations on funding for adaptation.

In this respect the recent experiences of local actors can be of relevance.
People in rural and mountainous areas
all over the world have been observing
changes, and are taking actions to
cope with them. In this sense, these
are additional actions which illustrate
quite clearly what ‘additional investment’ means. Recognising the value of
their observations and actions, and integrating these into the international
debate on additionality will help to
create a common understanding of the
issue.

5

Adaptation from a local
perspective

Men and women all over the world are already adapting to climate change. Their
observations, analyses of the problems and coping and adaptation strategies can
provide valuable input to national and international policy makers, including
those involved in the UNFCCC negotiations and experts in international donor
agencies.

5.1
Adaptation strategies and
capacities at a local level
Climate change creates challenges
for communities at the local level.
These challenges include increased
periods of drought or flooding, shifting rainfall patterns, temperature
increases and glacial retreat. These
can lead to decreased water and fuel
availability, increased soil erosion, crop
losses, forest fires, higher incidence
of diseases and deterioration of road
conditions.
Climate change also impacts on human relations: inequities tend to increase, and conflicts between different
groups of e.g. water users arise. Women tend to face increased workloads in
ensuring sufficient water and firewood
is collected and household food security and health needs are met.
People affected by these challenges
have started to adapt to them. Some
of them are aware that the changes
they are experiencing can be attributed to climate change, while others
are not, but are still coping, or trying
to cope, with changing conditions.
Adaptation initially involves coping with current stresses. Adequate

climate information can help people
develop awareness of the problems,
being able to anticipate future changes in climate change and adapt their
livelihood strategies, or indeed adopt
new ones.
The cases which this paper draws on
show that climate change leads people
to focus on reducing their vulnerabilities, and strengthening their adaptive
capacity, as well as adapting to the
consequences of climate change.
Vulnerability is reduced by, for example, constructing water pans to better
store water or by tree planting and
terracing of slopes to avoid erosion.
Ecosystem restoration is an important
measure in improving resilience in agriculture and water resources. Often,
ecosystem restoration and climate
change adaptation are complementary. Communities are diversifying their
livelihoods and use alternative crops,
such as drought-resistant crops, or alternative sources of fuel. In addition,
adaptation activities are often accompanied by changes in institutional relationships that allow local actors to gain
more control over their environmental
resources.

13

Examples of adaptation strategies drawn from the case studies:

Water availability and use
• Construction of trenches, water pans or supplemental
irrigation systems to retain and store water.
• Implementation of a Payment for Environmental
Services (PES) scheme.
• Installation of water meters to better regulate water
use, so that tariffs are based on volume consumed and/
or allow a base flow to reach the downstream users
in times of drought.
• Rehabilitation of boreholes and river banks, small scale
irrigation, water harvesting.
• Irrigation using motorised and gravity-fed treadle
pumps to increase the productivity of agriculture.
• Reuse of waste drainage from agriculture
• Tapping fallow aquifers and the development of
wetlands.
Food security
• Growing drought-resistant, and/or quick maturing crops
with better storage characteristics.
• Adoption of organic farming methods, which adapt
better to climate change than conventional agriculture
systems. Organic farming increases soil organic
matter through farm residue recycling and composting.
Organic matter improves soil structure and water
holding capacity. Extreme high temperatures
are prevented by use of mulch, cover crops, and
agro-forestry practices.
• Application of organic and inorganic fertilisers in
response to reduced soil fertility resulting from land
degradation.
• Switching to small livestock, such as goats, that are
more resilient to dry conditions.
• Use of drought-resistant seed varieties and small grain
crops such as maize seeds and sorghum, millet
and sweet potatoes.
• Establishing a community seed bank to supply seeds
that have been collected over time in the villages.
• Adopting alternative agricultural technologies, such
as plants with shorter growing periods to cope with the
shifting winter season (e.g. selected varieties of tomato,
cabbage, strawberries and onions).
• Food preservation and drying to provide increased
security and variety of food over the winter season.
• Use of bamboo in agricultural systems. Bamboo is
the most drought-resistant and fastest growing woody
plant on earth. It prevents soil erosion, enriches the soil,
provides good charcoal and absorbs pollutants.

14

• Use of cold frames, simple wooden frame structures
with glass panes that act as small-scale greenhouses.
• These structures can provide several degrees of air
and soil temperature insulation, and shelter seedlings
from cold weather. They allow the community
members to plant seedlings earlier in the season and
may also provide a permanent home to cold-hardy
vegetables, such as greens, for autumn and winter
harvests.
Ecosystem rehabilitation
• Tree planting and terracing of slopes to improve
slope stability, often using local varieties of fruit and
forest trees or trees with specific agro-forestry uses.
Tree leaves decompose on the ground to nutrient
supply, and leguminous trees fix nitrogen from the air,
which enhances nitrogen availability, tree roots open up
the soil improving soil structure, and their canopies
create micro- climates.
• Natural forest regeneration, combined with soil
conservation measures.
• Establishment of vegetative strips to act as buffers
and reduce wind and water erosion and re-generate soil
fertility.
• Construction of stone packs in erosion gullies.
• Introduction of environmentally friendly agricultural
methods that enhance agricultural productivity despite
drier conditions.
Health
• Growing Artemisia annua: a plant used for the
treatment of malaria.

Income

• Diversification of livelihoods into other sectors to
generate income.
• Development of systems of Payment for Environmental
Services (PES).
• Development of marketing strategies that emphasise
the unique characteristics of a specific product in the
context of climate change.
• Development of production methods that minimise the
additional costs of production due to climate change.
Early warning
• Early warning and evacuation systems for people
and livestock, appropriate to the different information
channels open to women and men.
• Opening early warning and information centres in
community village and towns.
Institutional development/ strengthening
• Strengthening or introducing Water User Associations
as the basis for adaptation on a basin level.
• Inclusion of women in decision-making on the
management of natural resources.
• Establishing linkages between local, community-based
institutions and research institutions.
• Establishing linkages between community-based
institutions and government institutions (sectoral and
national).
• Commissioning studies of local circumstances and the
expected impacts of climate change.
• Development of ‘climate proof’ basin management
plans.

Energy
• Stockpiling fuel, food and clothing for the winter.
• Application of alternative sources of energy: wind, solar,
biomass.
• Use of alternative sources of fuel, such as dung.
• Increasing energy efficiency by applying technologies
for household insulation and energy efficiency
using local materials.
• Increasing the energy efficiency of cooking appliances/
stoves and reducing their negative health impacts.

15

Dessai et. al. (2005) has classified the
many different forms of adaptation
that exist into three main approaches:
• The IPCC approach, focusing on
scenarios analysis.
• The risk approach, based on
statistical data and probability
scenarios.
• The human development
approach, determined by the overall
development process.
The first two rely on available climate data to build adequate future
scenarios and probability models. The
third considers climate change as an
additional stress factor in societies
that are already facing, sometimes extreme, socio-economic development
challenges. It focuses on the levels of
exposure to climatic hazards and the
determinants of adaptive capacity,
including the availability of financial
resources, access to information, and
the existing institutional frameworks.
Creating synergies between local
knowledge and scientific knowledge is
an important requirement for developing and implementing effective adaptation strategies. Yet, climate data and
scenarios are often lacking and all the
case studies we draw upon in this report follow the human development
approach. For example adaptation in
the Chikwawa District in Malawi has
been an indirect result of relief work in
response to disasters (not induced by
climate change). The development of
the Payment for Environmental Services scheme (PES) in San Pedro del
Norte in Nicaragua has been implemented in reaction to recurrent problems of water shortage. The strategy
implemented in Tajikistan combines
adaptation with the existing priorities
of the community. The one instance
where climate data was available was
in the Suid Bokkeveld, South Africa,
where existing climate change information was tailored to the area covered by a farmers’ cooperative. Farmers then set out to record and reflect
on longer-term climate change effects

16

and adaptation strategies and to compare their own experiences with rainfall and temperature forecasts. This led
farmers to critically reflect on scientific
forecasts and make informed land use
decisions.

5.1.1
Capacities: What is lacking?
Communities, local NGOs and government agencies often have limited
knowledge of climate change issues
and appropriate adaptive strategies.
Availability of, and access to, information about climate risks and adaptation
strategies is poor. Communities need
adequate and tailored information,
and support in developing the capacity to understand, interpret and act
on it. They need access to technical
expertise, including specialised meteorological institutions. Tailor-made
information can be made accessible
through local media, training and capacity building, discussions and shared
learning. A particular area of interest
is the development of knowledge and
analytical approaches to distinguish
between the consequences of unsustainable resource management and
those of climate change.
Another hindrance to coping with
and adapting to climatic changes is the
lack of financial resources as there is a
shortage of resources for local institutions supporting communities working
in this field. Vulnerable households are
struggling to meet their basic needs,
and often do not have capital to start
up new livelihood strategies, nor are
they comfortable with taking risks. It
is also difficult to find the resources to
scale up successfully tested adaptation
approaches. The AEDES NHO in Peru
have developed and implemented

strategies to ‘harvest water’, as a
direct response to the changes occurring in the hydrological systems of
the Andean highlands caused by the
disappearance of glacial lakes. AEDES
has been looking for funds to replicate
this activity in other areas, but without
success.
Funding is often tied to very specific
sectoral activities. Yet as we argued
earlier, the distinction between sustainable natural resource management
and adaptation is often unclear.
ACICAFOC in Guatemala, for example, have experienced how climate
change is increasing the urgency of
implementing sound water management systems, yet doing so also
involves making existing livelihoods
more sustainable and equitable.
Climate change creates new challenges for villagers and local governments alike. The effectiveness of their
adaptation strategies will depend
on several factors, including strong
coordination and systematic negotiation. Community-based organisations
may be best positioned to identify the
needs and possibilities of adapting to
climate change, but local government
have established links to the national
network of government institutions,
and can play a crucial role in coordinating activities on a local, district and
national level, and in generating the
necessary financial support. Yet, because vulnerable communities rarely
participate in local decision-making,
local governments are often ‘out of
touch’ with the most pressing issues in
their communities.
Local coordination and cooperation
are necessary for sustainable development and effective adaptation to climate change. Climate change can be a
catalyst in achieving cooperation, but
will probably not be the only motivating factor.

The effectiveness of local activities
is highly influenced by district and
national decisions, investment and development policies. Even policies that
at first glance seem to have no relation
with climate change may have a negative impact on adaptive capacities.
In Peru, engagement in reforestation
activities and local peoples’ interest in
sustainable land and water management are discouraged by the ‘assistance’ approach of relief agencies who
provide food to local people, which
changes their relationship to their
natural environment and decreases
their concern for managing it. Thus,
their capacity to manage their environment sustainably and to adapt to the
changes in that environment induced
by climate change is being diminished
by well-intentioned but misguided assistance.
Sometimes the type of support that
is being given to communities affected
by climate change can produce undesirable effects, as is happening among
producers in the high part of Chiquimula in Guatemala where local governmental organisations are subsidising fertiliser costs in an attempt to reverse declining agricultural productivity. This runs the risk of increasing pest
levels and crop diseases, as a result of
the excessive use of agrochemicals
combined with changes in moisture
conditions and temperatures. More integrated analysis of the problems is
thereby required, in this instance one
that adopts a more holistic view of the
agricultural unit of production as one
with many levels of interactions and
not just a simple case of nutrient deficiency.

5.1.2

ences, thereby creating a direct flow
of information between small-scale
land users and government decisionmakers.

Capacities: What is needed?
There is an urgent need to build
the adaptive capacity of vulnerable
communities. One potentially useful
indicator of adaptive capacity is the
Human Development Index (HDI),
which includes health, drinking water
access, education level and income
(PNUD, 2002). Building adaptive capacity is a long-term process that requires long-term institutional support.
Awareness raising, providing access
to tailor-made, locally relevant climate
information from scientific models, and
socially and economically appropriate
technology transfers will be key elements.
Peer learning is a powerful tool
for capacity building. In South Africa
the Environmental Monitoring Group
(EMG) has been organising quarterly
climate change preparedness workshops, and a series of farmer-to-farmer
workshops to facilitate farmers in
further developing their capacities to
apply on-farm strategies to adapt to
changing climate conditions. Mount
Kenya Organic Farming (MOOF) in
Kenya has been implementing farmer
open days and providing training for
a large number of smallholder farmers
who are organised in self-help groups.
Knowledge and data need to be
shared between the local population
and the scientific community. EMG has
developed links with research partners
at the Universities of Cape Town and
Witwatersrand who were able to offer their expertise and direct access
to data and information that would
otherwise be unavailable to land users.
Moreover, in their capacities as members on government advisory panels,
researchers from these universities
presented findings and contributions
from small-scale farmers that emerged
from discussion groups and confer-

Gender trainings are also required
to assure that adaptation measures are
developed in a gender-sensitive way
and sensitise people to the gender
relevance of the work they are doing.
Gender experts need to be involved in
all stages of programme development
to provide those planning and carrying out projects and programmes with
information about gender issues and
impacts.
The development of local capacities
and the implementation of adaptation
initiatives require capable local and
meso-level institutions. Coordination
between such institutions, and the
participation of local communities in
project design and implementation,
are absolutely crucial in creating longterm adaptive capacities.
Donors, development organisations,
and government agencies should
adopt a coordinated, gender-sensitive
approach in which resources are pulled
together and focused on prioritised
activities that create more sustainable
ventures, lessen maladaptation and reduce climate risks at both the national
and local levels. A major challenge at
the international level is that of developing small-scale funds that are accessible to those working at the local
level for investing in improved resistance and resilience to climate-related
risks.

17

5.2
Local perspectives on
additionality and funding
for adaptation
The most vulnerable communities
are generally those with the least access to resources and services. For
such communities, climate change is
only one of a host of factors contributing to their vulnerability, and their
scarce resources are stretched among
many competing priorities.
Addressing vulnerability to climate
change requires a holistic approach,
which addresses current and future
climate challenges as well as the underlying causes of vulnerability. This
requires a comprehensive understanding of community vulnerability, a flexible and gender-sensitive approach to
development and a long-term commitment to communities. Traditional development mechanisms generally do
not provide this flexibility or the time
to work with communities.
The local organisations involved in
drawing up the cases on which this
report is based identified the following
key issues in terms of additionality and
funding.
• The centrality of research, informa-
tion gathering, awareness raising,
understanding and developing
additional activities.
• The importance of changing
priorities so that sound environmen-
tal management is given particular
priority.
• The importance of institutional and
capacity building and negotiation
processes.
• The importance in changes in pro-
duction and/or marketing methods
and livelihood diversification.

18

• The relevance of additional actions
in terms of environmental rehabili-
tation/watershed management or
the introduction of different types of
technology, needed to counteract
the impacts of climate change.
• The need for damage repair and
reconstruction after climatic events.
Only the last two of these elements
are relatively easy to quantify as the
case study from San Pedro del Norte,
Nicaragua illustrates. Here the additional costs of climatic changes
have been identified as including i)
increased water costs as a consequence to decreased water availability;
ii) decreased food security as a consequence of lower yields during dry
years; and iii) infrastructure damage
due to extreme precipitation, which
reduced future investment capacity
and a caused a loss of access to local
markets.
The cost of water increases about
30 to 40 fold during droughts, as people and cattle ranchers have to travel
much further in search of water. These
costs can be prevented, at least partly,
by increasing watershed conservation areas, as is currently being done
through the Payment for Environmental Services (PES) scheme, and by investing in new infrastructure for water
distribution from new sources, usually
located farther away.
Reducing the risk of crop losses is
probably a bigger challenge. Crop
yields are already normally low due to
a narrow window of water availability
and soil degradation. Increasing crop
yields will require investments in soil
and water conservation techniques,
and improved food crop varieties. New
non-cropping agricultural activities are
also being considered, such as beekeeping and medicinal plants, as well
as tree planting, which can provide
produce for household consumption
and for market.

Reducing the risk of damage to infrastructure, particularly roads, from
extreme precipitation events, is not
an easy task. The size and extent of
the damage will largely depend on
particular events and the condition of
the infrastructure. A financial mechanism (i.e. climate insurance) could
be considered to re-build damaged
infrastructure, but establishing such a
mechanism requires policy changes at
the national or international level.
One interesting option for securing
additional income for adaptation is the
development of innovative marketing of commercial products in climate
sensitive areas as in the example of
organic rooibos tea in South Africa. In
this way environmentally sound land
use practices can be combined with
value addition and income generation.
This will afford industry-players the
leverage to negotiate higher prices
as incentives for producers to work in
an environmentally just manner. “Climate-wise” or “water-wise” (produced
in ways that do not contribute to the
abstraction of groundwater in excess
of the natural capacity for recharge)
marketing is likely to win increasing
consumer support in the future.
Local communities and local NGOs
often experience major difficulties in
accessing funds because they cannot
quantify the additional costs and benefits of the adaptation measures that
they are considering adopting. Their
main message is that climate change
will place an even greater burden on
the scarce resources and capacities of
the poor and increase their vulnerability, especially of women. Micro-finance
or soft loans can provide seed capital
to reverse this trend and build on the
adaptive capacity of local communities.

5.3
Local perspectives on climate
proofing of policies and
investments
The climate proofing of policies and
investments implies:
• Ensuring that policies and invest-
ments that limit adaptive capacities
and increase vulnerabilities to cli-
mate change, i.e. that are examples
of maladaptation, are revised.
• Analysing existing policies and in-
vestments from the perspective of
climate risks, and revise them to
reduce climate risks.
• Developing policies and interven-
tions that increase coping capacity,
decrease vulnerability and support
local adaptation activities.

5.3.1
Ensuring that policies and investment that limit adaptive capacities
and increase vulnerabilities to
climate change, i.e. that are examples of maladaptation, are revised.
In general, this is the most challenging task. National policies and
investments are dominated by a drive
for economic development, and tend
to be characterised by a focus on
large-scale interventions and sectoral
approaches. Whereas some countries
have developed national plans that
take climate change and adaptation
into account, this has mostly been
done within the Ministries of Environment or specially created units and climate change considerations have not
been integrated or mainstreamed with
other policies.

In South Africa for example, the government is taking climate change seriously, and is addressing it and taking
specific measures to integrate climate
change in policy and investment processes. However making plans on paper
is one thing, but implementing them
is quite another. A lack of political will
from parliamentarians and low awareness of the importance of addressing
climate change amongst most
decision-makers contribute to shortcomings in implementation.
In Peru, water users living in the
Ocoña basin are becoming increasingly concerned by government support for large-scale mining investment
in the upper-catchment areas. Expansion of the mining industry will further
increase pressure on the water system,
both in terms of water use and pollution. In Nicaragua, national agricultural
policies that aim at improving competitiveness in export crops such as coffee
and beef. This focus will increase the
vulnerability and further marginalise
small-scale farmers and farmers growing food crops in fragile ecosystems,
such as the hillsides of San Pedro del
Norte.
In Kenya there is an opportunity to
study the effects and impacts of climate change on economic development within the Economic Development Strategy and Vision 2030 for
economic growth. Such an analysis and
a quantification of the risks that climate change poses for economic development is important in order to influence policy-makers in different sectors to integrate adaptation into their
policies and programmes.

5.3.2
Analyse existing policies and investments from the perspective of
climate risks, and revise them to
reduce climate risks.
Current development plans, such
as the Poverty Reduction Strategy
Papers (PRSP), national agricultural,
transport or infrastructure plans should
assess and address the risks caused by
current and future climate change. In
some cases, reducing risks will entail
a change in technological choices. In
others, investments might prove to be
at too great a risk from climate change
and alternative options will have to
be developed. In general, agriculture
(and by consequence food security)
and water resource management are
the sectors most vulnerable to climate
variability and climate change.
In Nicaragua, the impacts of
climate change on various sectors
were analysed in the First National
Communication to the UNFCCC.
However, the conclusions of that
study have not been systematically
integrated into sectoral and
development policies and some
sectoral plans do not even mention
climate change. Nevertheless, the
policy framework provides some
openings for adaptation initiatives,
particularly in relation to disaster risk
reduction and sustainable land use
management. The challenge will be to
access resources and the capacity to
implement appropriate programmes.
The Dutch Directorate-General for
International Cooperation (DGIS)
has conducted a quick scan of its
investment plans in three countries.
This indicated that a range of
investments were already at risk from
climate change. In Bangladesh, a
E 53 million programme for providing
access to water and sanitation is now
revising its choice of technologies and

19

NOTES

in Bolivia, the focus on particular crops
is being reconsidered17.
The severity of the potential impacts
of climate change can be illustrated by
the case of the Bujugali Dam in Uganda. The project depends on the inflow
from Lake Victoria, whose water level
is rapidly dropping. This fall in water
level is partially caused by the mismanagement of the watershed and increased water extraction for irrigation.
Regional climate models predict that
rainfall in the Lake Victoria Basin may
decrease significantly. If this were the
case, the effectiveness of the Bujugali
Dam will diminish and the building of
the dam will cause additional demands
on the remaining water in the lake. In
a situation of increasing scarcity, this
will put further pressure on small-scale
subsistence uses of the lake and its
water resources.
As far as the case holders could ascertain no risk assessments are being
conducted in their countries, and investments continue as planned.

20

5.3.3
Develop policies and interventions
that increase coping capacity,
decrease vulnerability and support
local adaptation activities.
It is important for policy makers to
engage in a consultative process and
listen to local actors so as to ensure
that their priorities and the challenges they face in reducing the risks
experienced from climate change are
effectively addressed. An enabling
framework, with appropriate funding mechanisms and regulations can
greatly facilitate local actors in taking
appropriate adaptive actions.
In general however there is a disconnection between the local level and
the national level in terms of information sharing and decision-making. In
Tajikistan, CARE has made efforts to
bridge this gap through an Adaptation
Advisory Group made up of local and
national policy-makers and researchers. However, the perception at the
national level remains that climate
change is an environmental issue of
concern to scientists rather than a
development issue of concern to local
communities. In addition, the government has limited understanding of the
connections between national-level
policies and the adaptations that industries, communities, and households
need to make. This perception must
be overcome if national policies and
programmes to facilitate the development of adaptive capacity in vulnerable communities are to be implemented. Improvement of participation
in local governance and more resources and capacity for local government
agencies are required to ensure that
government initiatives are able to support local adaptation.

Other policies to support adaptation
include:
• Expediting land redistribution
and securing tenure through
land ownership amongst previously
marginalised groups. These actions
are critical in supporting the capacity
of small-scale farmers to buffer
themselves against the livelihood
risks stemming from climate change.
• Promoting organic farming practices
that help to increase the quality of
the soil and improve the land’s water
holding capacity. This, in turn,
will help decrease vulnerabilities to
drought and flooding.
• In addition to measures that promote
sustainable resource management,
it is also imperative to increase
people’s coping capacities by
putting in place early warning
systems, to allow communities
to prepare for natural disasters.
Likewise, specific programmes
for communication and knowledge
sharing on climate risks need to be
initiated, for example, meteorological
information relevant for farmers'
decisions on planting dates.
In South Africa, the need for comprehensive policies and supportive
legislation is clearly recognised by
decision-makers. To its credit, the government has adopted a consultative
approach in developing its strategy for
climate change. It has involved a wide
range of stakeholders in public discussions and debates, and is working
proactively, rather than reactively, to
predicted climate change scenarios.
Administrative structures should
respond to the challenges of climate
change, by allowing experts in health,
water management or agriculture to
include climate change analysis within
their normal work and develop concrete activities that can strengthen
adaptive capacities. Another possible
approach would be to create a climate
change department within central government, with strong links with sectoral ministries such as the Ministries

of Health, Agriculture, Livestock and
Fisheries. In Kenya, such an
arrangement might have helped to
control the outbreak of Rift Valley
Fever and would significantly speed up
the provision of drought-tolerant crops
and proper food storage structures to
farmers.
Local institutions are often inadequately equipped to support local
adaptation initiatives. This can be a
result of institutional rules and regulations. In Nicaragua for example,
Law No. 466 dictates that 7% of the
national Budget should be dedicated
to support Municipal Development
Plans. However, the allocation criteria
only refer to population size of the
municipality; territorial size; and the
local tax base. Poverty levels, (such as
measured by the Human Development
Index), and the vulnerability of communities to climate impacts are not
considered in this formula.
Institutions with a traditional sectoral
remit (e.g. agriculture) are not designed to integrate climate variability
or climate change into their procedures. For instance, the Nicaraguan
Fund for Social Investment and Emergencies (FISE) invests in water distribution and sanitation infrastructure. To
respond to climate change it needs to
redirect its focus beyond the hardware
of water management and invest in
making these systems as climate proof
as possible. This will involve adopting
ecosystem conservation measures and
strengthening local capacities to improve the hydrological functions of the
ecosystem. Unfortunately, FISE’s mandate is for one-off interventions, and it
cannot become involved in initiatives
that have recurrent costs, such as the
payment for the environmental services scheme in San Pedro del Norte.
As such, FISE (and other important institutions) is not geared towards avoiding land degradation and supporting
ecosystem restoration, which are key
to dealing with the impacts of climate
change and climate variability in the
drinking water sector.

Meanwhile, non–governmental actors, such as the South African Climate
Change Action Network (SACCAN),
are proactively addressing capacity development needs. Rolling-out and upscaling similar projects among land
user communities through participatory approaches would greatly contribute to immediate responses to climate
change through locally implemented
mitigation and adaptation strategies.
There is a need for flexible funding
programmes and efficient means to
access the funds to initiate these kinds
of projects.

17See also www.ncapnl.nl

21

6

Conclusions and
recommendations

6.1
Local experiences as the key
to adaptation at local and
national levels
Autonomous adaptation, carried out
by communities and facilitated by local
civil society organisations, is already
taking place in areas affected by climate change. Farmers, fisherfolk, and
water users are analysing the changes
that they are experiencing and taking
measures to increase their resilience.
Some of these measures are conscious changes in agricultural practices
or income-generating activities in order to adapt to climatic changes, others focus on general vulnerability reduction through the wiser use of local
natural resources such as land, water
and forests.
Local autonomous adaptation is
helping poor people adjust to and
offset the visible impacts of climate
change. Their experiences and the
lessons they have learned can provide
an important source of knowledge in
developing policies and plans for adaptation at the regional, national and
international levels.
Supporting and improving existing
local adaptation strategies is more
effective, less expensive and less demanding on institutional capabilities
than large scale and centrally planned
adaptation programmes. However,
local adaptation initiatives require sup-

22

future climate challenges and the underlying causes of vulnerability. This
requires a comprehensive understanding of community vulnerability, a flexible and gender-sensitive approach to
development and long-term commitment to the communities concerned.

6.2
Vulnerability reduction as
an entry point to adaptation
strategies
The effects of climate change on
vulnerable communities cannot be addressed in isolation. Rather, climate
change should be considered as one
of a range of factors that contribute
to people’s vulnerability, one that will
place an even greater burden on the
scarce resources and capacities of the
poor and increase their vulnerability.
Adaptation initiatives need to take
these other contributing factors into
account.
As such, addressing vulnerability to
climate change requires a holistic approach, which addresses current and

Building on local adaptation
strategies
The following mechanisms all play an
essential role in allowing local communities and organisations to continue,
improve and spread their work on adaptation.
• Improved information provision.
Information about climate
change and its impacts on
local communities is fundamental
for successful adaptation. Climate
information must be made
available at no cost to local
communities and in a way
that is accessible and
understandable to them. It needs
to be tailored to the needs of local
communities and be channelled
through appropriate information
channels to reach the most
vulnerable. The information must
address all different target groups
(women, men, youth, elderly,
migrants, etc.), and take into
account that men and women use
different information channels and
have different access to information.
• Building adaptive capacity. It is
important to strengthen the capacity
of local people and local policy
makers by training them about
climate change and adaptation
strategies in a way that is linked to
poverty eradication and sustainable
development, and that pays

attention to the equal participation
of different social groups. Women
need to be empowered to
contribute to this process and to
share their knowledge and
capabilities. This approach to
building adaptive capacity requires
long-term commitment to working
with these communities.

• Information sharing. Action research
is an important tool for facilitating
information sharing. It enhances
the ability of local communities
to share their knowledge and make
adaptive changes in a rapidly
changing environment. Peer
learning is also a very powerful
tool for knowledge sharing. It is also
important to combine local
knowledge with knowledge from the
scientific community and to enhance
trans-disciplinary research and
effective coordination between
climate scientists, development
agents, the disaster risk reduction
community and affected
communities.
• Implementing concrete adaptation
measures, such as conservation
measures, income diversification,
access to credit and loans, and
setting up emergency plans.
Several local autonomous measures
and technologies have already
proved to be successful and these
need to be replicated and up-scaled.
A participatory development process
helps to give ownership to those
who will carry out and benefit from
the measures. Attention needs to
be paid to equal participation
by different social groups, notably
women and men and a gender
impact assessment of the measures
should be conducted, particularly
when the planned measures are
implemented from the top down.

6.4
Integrating climate change in
policy frameworks
Given the clear links between climate change, adaptation and poverty,
there is an urgent need to integrate
climate change considerations into
national policy frameworks and to
include climate risk assessment in current and future investment decisions.
People who have been working at a
local level in autonomously adapting
to climate change can provide important insights of the changes needed to
climate proof national policy and investment frameworks, such as Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP).

• Decentralise power and increase
local participation in decision-
making (i.e. natural resource
management decisions; logging
permits, etc.).
• Integrate climate change
considerations in planning
documents such as Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP).
This will facilitate the allocation of
ODA funds for adaptation activities,
and the integration of climate
change into development.
• Conduct climate risk screenings
for donor policies, programmes and
investments.

At the same time national and international decision-making processes
and funding mechanisms need to become more inclusive and incorporate
local actors. They should be recognised as key stakeholders in developing adaptation measures and reducing
the climate risks of development policies and investment plans. It is thus
important for policy makers to:
• Ensure that policies and investment
that limit adaptive capacities
and increase vulnerabilities to
climate change, i.e. those that
are examples of maladaptation, are
revised.
• Analyse existing policies and
investments from the perspective of
climate risk, and revise them to
reduce such risk; (i.e., agriculture,
water supply, hydroelectricity, etc.).
• Develop policies and interventions
that increase coping capacity,
decrease vulnerability and support
local adaptation activities.
• Engage in a consultative process
and listen to local actors to ensure
that their priorities and the
challenges they face in reducing
climate risks are effectively
addressed.

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References

6.5
Funding mechanisms for
adaptation
Without additional funding allocated specifically for adaptation, it will be
impossible to effectively address the
adaptation challenge. We recommend
that policy makers and donors:
• Address the knowledge gap on
additional costs at global,
programme and project level to
achieve progress in the negotiations
on funding for adaptation.
• Create flexible, small scale funding
opportunities for community based
adaptation, action research and
pilot or demonstration projects and
ensure that funding reaches the
most vulnerable.
• Create micro-finance schemes and
soft loans to provide seed capital.
• Involve vulnerable people in
decision-making over the allocation
of resources for adaptation.
• Shift from an emphasis on
emergency funding to funding
for vulnerability reduction, natural
resource management, restoration
activities, food security, and early
warning systems at the local
and national levels.
• Ensure that funds are equally
accessible to women and men,
taking into account cultural, societal
and religious gender norms.
• Support national financial
mechanisms to implement weather
based insurance schemes for rural
communities and vulnerable sectors.
• Create national institutional
mechanisms in order to channel
funds from the international to the
local level.

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• Ensure that aid flows for sustainable
development take account of the
need to increase the capacity
of communities and countries to
adapt to climate change. At the
same time, additional funds, beyond
current ODA commitments must be
made available.
• At the international level, there is
a need to create a global insurance
mechanism to help cover the costs
of reconstruction after climate-
related disasters.
• At the international level, there
is need to implement concrete and
binding targets for the allocation of
resources for adaptation in the post-
2012 framework. These funds
should be allocated through
the UNFCCC funds as well as
through other mechanisms.

Annex 1: Short summary of the case studies
Community based adaptation to climate variability and change in
agriculture and water resources in the dry tropics of Nicaragua. By
Carlos Perez, Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza
(CATIE), Costa Rica.
San Pedro del Norte is a municipality located in the hilly country of
northern Nicaragua. Several extreme climate events, such as Hurricane
Mitch and various episodes of droughts have caused major socio-economic damage in the municipality. Climate change scenarios suggest
that the area will become drier and hotter, increasing the risk of food
security and water shortages. The case describes how a local scheme
of Payment for Environmental Services has been set up, whereby
downstream water users in the municipality pay for restoration activities by the upstream farmers in the micro-watershed. This scheme has
resulted in the restoration of the watershed and increased water availability. It proved a successful strategy for increasing peoples’ resilience
to the threats of climate variability and change.

Quenching the thirst of an arid landscape: adaptation strategies of
small-scale rooibos tea farmers in Suid Bokkeveld, South Africa. By
Malgas, R.R., Koelle, B.R.I., Oettlé, N.M., Archer, E.R.M., Environmental
Monitoring Group (EMG), South Africa.
The Heiveld Cooperative is an organisation of small growers from the
Suid Bokkeveld in South Africa who produce cultivated and wild harvested rooibos tea for niche fair trade and organic markets overseas.
The small growers organised themselves to improve their livelihoods
through better market access and higher prices for their products. The
projected increased aridity of the area caused by climate change will
have severe impacts on the farmers, greatly reducing the reliability of
rain fed crops such as commercially harvested rooibos tea. In response
to this farmers have been developing several adaptation strategies,
including retaining natural strips of vegetation when clearing lands,
constructing wind breaks and adjoining mulched areas and establishing
contour bunds to promote infiltration of run-off water and to prevent
soil erosion, etc. In addition, quarterly climate change preparedness
workshops have been held to facilitate the further development of
farmer’s capacities to apply on-farm adaptive strategies. These led to
the formation of learning partnerships between researchers, land users, and rural development practitioners to allow for further knowledge
exchange.

Local adaptation strategies to climate change around Mount Kenya.
By Peter Murage, Mount Kenya Organic Farming (MOOF. Africa),
Kenya.
Erratic and unreliable rainfall patterns in the biodiversity-rich area of
Mount Kenya have left farmers unable to predict the seasons, which
they were able to do with precision 20 years ago. This has confused
farmers and threatens food security. Temperature increases in the highlands have facilitated the breeding of malaria carrying mosquitoes and
the encroachment of pastoralists and elephants in search of greener
pastures due to droughts on lower ground has resulted in conflicts with
the farmers in the area. MOOF has developed water ponds and a tree
nursery, and actively promoted organic agriculture in the communities
of Mount Kenya. This type of farming system is better able to adapt to
climate change than conventional agriculture. Organic matter improves
soil structure and water holding capacity. Extreme high temperatures are
controlled by the use of mulch, cover crops, and agro-forestry practices.

Adapting to climate change in the Ocoña River Basin in Arequipa/
Andacucho, Peru. By Manuel Tejada, Asociación Especializada para el
Desarrollo Sostenible (AEDES), Peru.
According to the Tyndall Centre, Peru will be one of the three countries
hardest hit by climate change, because of the country’s high dependence on glaciers as a source of water. Since the 1990s, AEDES has been
working with rural communities in the upper watersheds of the Ocoña
basin to improve local water management institutions, and to negotiate
local needs with central government. The disappearance of the glaciers
is having a severe impact on people’s livelihoods. Water systems are
changing and competition over water resources, such as wetlands is
increasing, deepening social inequities. Since 2003, AEDES has made
adaptation one of its priority challenges. Since then, the organisation
has started raising awareness on climate change amongst the local
population, engaged in promoting the participatory development of
new agricultural activities and ecosystem restoration and management
and has initiated the development of a river basin management plan in
which the ecosystem services provided by the inhabitants of the upper
basin are compensated for by the urban population living down-stream.
AEDES has also supported local groups in contributing to discussions
over the ‘climate proofing’ of government policies.

Local adaptation to climate change in agriculture:
experiences from Southern Africa
By Charles Nhemachena, Centre for Environmental Economics and
Policy (CEEP), University of Pretoria, South Africa

Farmer communities in the upland Chiquimula region of Guatemala
have been hit by famines twice in recent years, in 2001 and 2003. Traditionally excluded from regional or central support and development
programmes, these communities are not prepared for climate change:
diminishing water availability will increase existing vulnerabilities. The
Association of Agricultural Committees (ACODAPHI) is therefore prioritising sustainable water management and the wise use of water resources. Improvement in water management systems includes developing and implementing small-scale irrigation systems, strengthening the
capacities of existing community based organisations, and developing
a management plan for the protected Gigante forest area.

Southern Africa is expected to experience further increases in temperatures and declining rainfall patterns as well as increased frequency
of extreme climate events, such as droughts and floods, as a result
of climate change. These changes are detrimental to main sources of
livelihoods for most poor smallholder farmers, and threaten progress
made in attaining the Millennium Development Goals. Adaptations
being used by farmers in Southern Africa involve two main modifications in the production systems: 1) diversification and use of drought
tolerant crops to reduce the risk of crop failure, and 2) change in crop
management, such as modifying the length of the growing period and
changing planting and harvesting dates. An important challenge for implementing adaptation programs is to help build and strengthen local
cooperation and social institutions within the region.

Local perspectives and Adaptation to Climate Change in Chikwawa
District, Malawi. By Mxolisi Sibanda, Southern Africa Regional Programme Office (WWF SARPO)
The Chikwawa District in southern Malawi is experiencing a large number of impacts from climate change, which particularly affect the life
support systems of the poor communities. Seasonal changes, changes
in species composition and diversity, changes in precipitation and an
increase in extreme climatic events cause disease epidemics and reduced food security. Droughts and floods have severely affected the
livelihoods of the people. While the residents of Chikwawa notice the
changes, most do not attribute them to climate change, as they are
unaware of this global phenomenon. Yet, various adaptive measures
are being taken especially directed towards enhancing the agricultural
sector through conservation farming, application of organic and inorganic fertilisers and irrigation farming. Also community members have
diversified their livelihood into other sectors to generate income.

Gender, climate change and adaptation. Introduction to
the gender dimensions. By Ulrike Rohr, LIFE e.V./Genanet,
Germany.
This background paper describes why gender is an important factor
in climate change debates and particularly in adaptation to climate
change. Over two-thirds of the people in the world living in absolute
poverty - those expected to be hardest hit by climate change - are
women. Women are disproportionally affected by diseases and disasters caused by climate change, both as individuals and in their capacity
as caretakers of family members. Climate change will also have major
impacts on subsistence agriculture, water availability and health: all
areas in which women play an important role. The paper discusses
the impacts of climate change on women's lives and provides recommendations on how to effectively mainstream gender dimensions into
climate change debates, programmes, measures and financing mechanisms.

Adaptation in mountain communities in Tajikistan.
By Angie Dazé, CARE International and Firouz Ibrohimov, CARE
Tajikistan
Glacial retreat, changing rainfall patterns, droughts, floods, and mudflows in Tajikistan have serious implications for the livelihoods of rural
communities. Those communities at higher altitudes are particularly
dependent on the natural resource base and therefore highly vulnerable. CARE is working with three mountain communities to implement
adaptation strategies on a pilot basis, and helping local government
and NGOs to develop their capacity to address the impacts of climate change. Traditional adaptation strategies of the communities
have been investigated and built upon. Examples include the use of
household cold frames, energy-efficient stoves, food preservation and
drying, household insulation, and erosion control. CARE has formed
partnerships with the sub-district government units and local NGOs
and developed an Adaptation Advisory Group made up of experts in
government, research institutions and NGOs.

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This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM).
The views expressed herein are those of Both ENDS and can therefore in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of VROM.